Partnership for Central America Launched to Build Economic Development in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala
The Partnership for Central America was launched at the White House on May 27, 2021 as a non-profit organization created in response to a Call to Action by Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role overseeing diplomacy towards the Northern Triangle and Mexico. The Partnership, in coordination with the Department of State, aims to coordinate practical solutions to advance economic opportunity, address urgent climate, education and health challenges, and promote long-term investments and workforce capability in support of a vision of hope for Central America.
Partnership members will make significant commitments to help send hope to the people of the region and sustainably address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity. These commitments include bringing financial inclusion to 5 million by Mastercard, digital access to 1.4 million by Microsoft, micro-finance and social assistance to 8.4 million by ProMujer and Accion, the launch of a major climate resilience and living wage program and doubling production in the region by Nespresso, and measurable outcomes to support health and education access by Harvard and DuoLingo, among others.
In attendance were the founding members of the Partnership’s twelve companies and organizations, including:
+ Ajay Banga, Chairman of Mastercard
+ Maria Cavalcanti, CEO of Promujer
+ Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso SA
+ Jonathan Fantini Porter, Co-Founder/Non-Executive Director of Partnership for Central America
+ Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum
+ Brad Smith, President of Microsoft
+ Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani
+ Michelle Williams, Dean of the Harvard University School of Public Health
Information on what each Partnership member is doing in the region and new initiatives can be found
at: https://lnkd.in/gdVzt_y
The Partnership for Central America, working with the U.S. Department of State, will coordinate follow-up to the Vice President’s Call to Action, which will involve:
Connecting businesses with relevant U.S. interagency partners, such as USAID, DFC, the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, among others; non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multilateral development banks, UN agencies, other international organizations, and relevant government officials from the region to facilitate potential new partnerships and commitments.
- Coordinating private sector partners to ensure sustained progress through strategic and high-impact initiatives aligned to social impact goals, and facilitating joint ventures between new and existing partners across global public, private, and social sectors.
- Offering feedback on potential private sector initiatives, based on an assessment of potential migrants’ needs in the region.
Working with partner governments and institutions to promote reforms that address impediments to investment and foster a business-enabling environment. - Establishing metrics to measure the impact of commitments made in response to the Call to Action, to track program effectiveness and identify key trends across key economic and social impact metrics.
- Convening public forums and facilitating discussions on challenges, trends, and progress toward aspired social impact goals.
The Partnership welcomes additional commitments to join this initiative and promote economic opportunity in the Northern Triangle.
